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Re: [SanghaOnline] Vipassana

Dear Venerable Nandasiddhi, Thank you for your reply. I realise that my letter was too long and contained too many questions and it was kind of you to answer.

Message 1 of 4
, Sep 21, 2002

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Dear Venerable Nandasiddhi,

Thank you for your reply. I realise that my letter was too long and contained too many questions and it was kind of you to answer.

I am happy that the Mahasi tradition seems to be similar to the Ledi Sayadaw, U Thet, U Ba Khin, Goenkaji, line of teaching. This fills me with confidence.

I accept what you say about Satipatthana and I am always grateful to be reminded that wholesome mental, vocal and physical action is a pre-requisite for the practice of vipassana. So thanks for that � I do my best! (Actually, for me, practicing Vipassana is necessary for wholesome action � So I am truly indebted to the Buddha-Dhamma in meditative practice.)

I accept that all of the four foundations of mindfulness are important, and that an emphasis on vedananupassana is only the starting point for the school of meditation which I have been practicing. But when one becomes aware of the anicca, anatta, and dukkha nature of vedana it becomes easier to be aware of the anicca nature of other passana. This is my experience.

The questions I asked were phrased in the third person because I do not like talking about my own meditation experiences � I find such talk can easily inflate ones own delusional sense of self or atta-ditthi. But certain questions are very important to me.

If when experiencing bangha, the state referred to by Buddha where there is awareness of subtle sensation both inside and on the surface of the body, should I confine my attention only to the surface of the body if a sensation with a predominance of earth element subsequently arises? Should I develop awareness of the internal organs or should the mind be trained to confine itself externally at this stage? If when sweeping the body in a single breath i.e. awareness of sensation in every part of the body from top to bottom when exhaling and from bottom to top when inhaling should I keep on the surface or go inside or both?

As citta arises with some cetasika I usually concentrate on physical sensations and try to keep equanimity or Upekkha with those sensations in order to understand impermanence. Then I find the habit of the mind is to understand that thoughts, the body, and outside objects are also impermanent: �sabbe sankhara anicca�; �sabbe sankhara anatta�; �sabbe sankhara dukkha�. Equanimity is purity.

Do you think that I am practicing correctly? How, in the Mahasi tradition, is cittanupassana practiced?

Also, I accept that without samma-samadhi it is not possible to practice vipassana but I am a little confused by your emphasis on concentration. I thought that for concentration it was best to practice anapana or to take some other object. Aren�t samadhi techniques available outside of a buddha sasana? I want to break free of this samsara in this very life (or at laest at the end of it) and for that is it not better to be aware of the reality as it is, yathabutha?

Do you think it is better to try and obtain the jhanas with samadhi and then practice vipassana?

Already this E-mail is getting too long so my questions should stop here. I must apologise if I have spelt any Pali words incorrectly. My reference books are not with me at this time. Thanks for taking the trouble to help, and please take your time to reply. Thanks again.

May all beings be free from dukkha,

Much metta,

Tom

Sayadaw Nanda Siddhi

Dear Bro Tom When we practice the vipassana meditation it is necessary to try all the four foundation of mindfulness. They have different benefits. If you try

Message 2 of 4
, Oct 5, 2002

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Dear Bro Tom
When we practice the vipassana meditation it is necessary to try all the
four foundation of mindfulness. They have different benefits. If you try
Kayanupassana satipatthana mostly you can realize about Asubha and have
lesser attachment on your body. If you try the Vedananupassana satipatthana
mostly you can realize about Dukkha (suffering) causing you want to be free
from it. If you try the Cittanupassana satipatthana mostly you can realize
Anicca (impermanence) because our mind keep on changing very fast. If you
try the Dhammanupassana satipatthana mostly you can realize Anatta
(non-self) because what ever you want, sometimes you can get, sometimes you
cannot get, it depends on the situation. That's why it is not yourself.
Our mind is very fast. It cannot arise without object. It can take whatever
object it likes.
We need to control it. So we try to give to our mind a proper object. That's
why in Mahasi tradition we give the rising and falling of the abdomen as the
main object. That object is always there because we need to breathe. That
involves our body. We can say it is Kayanupassana. Not only this but also
we need to observe or note our feeling when it is coming. The feeling is not
very clear at the beginning of sitting. Unpleasurable feeling such as pain
is the clearest. But we cannot get it always. Sometimes only it arises. We
also have to contemplate on our mind when it becomes the clearest, such as
anger greed etc. That is how to practice cittanupassana in the Mahasi
tradition. Whatever we do, we must be aware of all these actions.

You should take the object, which is the clearest. You cannot get full
concentration on two objects. So you need to choose the object either on the
surface or inside.
I cannot understand about the physical sensation. There is no physical
sensation. The physical part of us has no sensation. Sensation or feeling is
only the mental part of us.

Before you want to understand about the Sabbe sankhara anicca, etc, you need
to understand correctly the true nature of the psychophysical
phenomena-taking place in your own self.

That 's why we need to concentrate on our body, feeling, mind and mental
formation. We can build up our concentration on these objects. No need to
try separately to obtain the special Jhana. Straight away we can get Sama
Samadhi on these objects

May you be free from Vicikiccha.

With Metta
Nandasiddhi.

>From: "Tom Reveley" <tom@...>
>Reply-To: SanghaOnline@yahoogroups.com
>To: nanda_siddhi@...
>CC: SanghaOnline@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [SanghaOnline] Vipassana
>Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 07:58:40 -0400
>
>Dear Venerable Nandasiddhi,
>
>Thank you for your reply. I realise that my letter was too long and
>contained too many questions and it was kind of you to answer.
>
>I am happy that the Mahasi tradition seems to be similar to the Ledi
>Sayadaw, U Thet, U Ba Khin, Goenkaji, line of teaching. This fills me with
>confidence.
>
>I accept what you say about Satipatthana and I am always grateful to be
>reminded that wholesome mental, vocal and physical action is a
>pre-requisite for the practice of vipassana. So thanks for that � I do my
>best! (Actually, for me, practicing Vipassana is necessary for wholesome
>action � So I am truly indebted to the Buddha-Dhamma in meditative
>practice.)
>
>I accept that all of the four foundations of mindfulness are important, and
>that an emphasis on vedananupassana is only the starting point for the
>school of meditation which I have been practicing. But when one becomes
>aware of the anicca, anatta, and dukkha nature of vedana it becomes easier
>to be aware of the anicca nature of other passana. This is my experience.
>
>The questions I asked were phrased in the third person because I do not
>like talking about my own meditation experiences � I find such talk can
>easily inflate ones own delusional sense of self or atta-ditthi. But
>certain questions are very important to me.
>
>If when experiencing bangha, the state referred to by Buddha where there is
>awareness of subtle sensation both inside and on the surface of the body,
>should I confine my attention only to the surface of the body if a
>sensation with a predominance of earth element subsequently arises? Should
>I develop awareness of the internal organs or should the mind be trained to
>confine itself externally at this stage? If when sweeping the body in a
>single breath i.e. awareness of sensation in every part of the body from
>top to bottom when exhaling and from bottom to top when inhaling should I
>keep on the surface or go inside or both?
>
>As citta arises with some cetasika I usually concentrate on physical
>sensations and try to keep equanimity or Upekkha with those sensations in
>order to understand impermanence. Then I find the habit of the mind is to
>understand that thoughts, the body, and outside objects are also
>impermanent: �sabbe sankhara anicca�; �sabbe sankhara anatta�; �sabbe
>sankhara dukkha�. Equanimity is purity.
>
>Do you think that I am practicing correctly? How, in the Mahasi tradition,
>is cittanupassana practiced?
>
>Also, I accept that without samma-samadhi it is not possible to practice
>vipassana but I am a little confused by your emphasis on concentration. I
>thought that for concentration it was best to practice anapana or to take
>some other object. Aren�t samadhi techniques available outside of a buddha
>sasana? I want to break free of this samsara in this very life (or at laest
>at the end of it) and for that is it not better to be aware of the reality
>as it is, yathabutha?
>
>Do you think it is better to try and obtain the jhanas with samadhi and
>then practice vipassana?
>
>Already this E-mail is getting too long so my questions should stop here. I
>must apologise if I have spelt any Pali words incorrectly. My reference
>books are not with me at this time. Thanks for taking the trouble to help,
>and please take your time to reply. Thanks again.
>
>May all beings be free from dukkha,
>
>Much metta,
>
>Tom
>
>
>
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>SanghaOnline-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Dear Bro Tom
When we practice the vipassana meditation it is necessary to try all the
four foundation of mindfulness. They have different benefits. If you try
Kayanupassana satipatthana mostly you can realize about Asubha and have
lesser attachment on your body. If you try the Vedananupassana satipatthana
mostly you can realize about Dukkha (suffering) causing you want to be free
from it. If you try the Cittanupassana satipatthana mostly you can realize
Anicca (impermanence) because our mind keep on changing very fast. If you
try the Dhammanupassana satipatthana mostly you can realize Anatta
(non-self) because what ever you want, sometimes you can get, sometimes you
cannot get, it depends on the situation. That's why it is not yourself.
Our mind is very fast. It cannot arise without object. It can take whatever
object it likes.
We need to control it. So we try to give to our mind a proper object. That's
why in Mahasi tradition we give the rising and falling of the abdomen as the
main object. That object is always there because we need to breathe. That
involves our body. We can say it is Kayanupassana. Not only this but also
we need to observe or note our feeling when it is coming. The feeling is not
very clear at the beginning of sitting. Unpleasurable feeling such as pain
is the clearest. But we cannot get it always. Sometimes only it arises. We
also have to contemplate on our mind when it becomes the clearest, such as
anger greed etc. That is how to practice cittanupassana in the Mahasi
tradition. Whatever we do, we must be aware of all these actions.

You should take the object, which is the clearest. You cannot get full
concentration on two objects. So you need to choose the object either on the
surface or inside.
I cannot understand about the physical sensation. There is no physical
sensation. The physical part of us has no sensation. Sensation or feeling is
only the mental part of us.

Before you want to understand about the Sabbe sankhara anicca, etc, you need
to understand correctly the true nature of the psychophysical
phenomena-taking place in your own self.

That 's why we need to concentrate on our body, feeling, mind and mental
formation. We can build up our concentration on these objects. No need to
try separately to obtain the special Jhana. Straight away we can get Sama
Samadhi on these objects